The 2012 World of Warcraft Arena Pass has begun with the Practice Phase: the perfect time to experiment! You can check out all the various options available in the Arena Pass, and maybe try out some alternate team combinations before the serious fighting begins. Which classes do you want your three characters to be and what specs will they all have? Now is the time to set up your characters and prepare them for the Ladder Phase that starts on May 8.

The Arena Pass Realm

Youâ€™ve probably already found your way in! But if not, once youâ€™ve registered for the Arena Pass youâ€™ll find an additional tab in the World of Warcraft realm list upon logging in. From here, just select the Arena Pass realm and log in.

Once youâ€™ve logged in to the realm youâ€™ll find a large group of vendors nearby who will provide you with everything you need, including armor, gems, and reforging. Thereâ€™s an NPC who can teleport you to each of your factionâ€™s capital cities, and should you run out of gold thereâ€™s a Paymaster NPC whoâ€™ll willingly provide you with as much as you need.

There are no other NPCs or monsters in this unique version of Azeroth, but youâ€™ll be able to find additional groups of these special Arena Pass NPCs in various towns and cities. This realm is totally focused on Arena combat!

Gearing Up Your Gladiators

Though your characters will already have some great equipment when you create them, thereâ€™s an extensive assortment of items to choose from so you can tailor your characters to better fit your play style.

Your characters will already know all glyphs for their class, and you have a stack of Dust of Disappearance available, with more easily acquirable.

A potentially important part of planning your characters is doing so in conjunction with your 3v3 Arena teammates. You only have three character slots, so it might be wise for you to decide as a team which characters you want to have available. But what if you havenâ€™t found teammates yet? What if you have some advice to give to fellow PvPers?Â Maybe youâ€™re even looking for advice yourself! Check outÂ the official Arena Pass forums to talk with other like-minded players looking for teammates, or just talking strategy!